And here's part 2! Disregard my last note about combining chapters; I probably won't do that. (And I'm really sorry about the late update, but I hit a dry spell for a while).
I'm slowly but surely shortening my ANs. Here's the disclaimer!
"Well what do you want to know?" asked Thad, shifting in his seat. He and the other men leaned forward a bit.
Rachel mused for a bit, "You guys were all Warblers while at Dalton?"
David and the others all nodded. "Surely you remember this guy?" he asked, clapping Blaine on the back. The man reddened a bit, playing with Kurt's fingers.
Santana smirked. "We might not, but I can assure you one of us did," she teased, staring pointedly at Kurt, who blushed lightly, darkening as Blaine pressed a kiss to his cheek. The rest of the group laughed good- naturedly as Kurt glared, smiling to show he was joking.
"No, but in all honesty, we remember you guys from competition," Mercedes said. "What did you guys do once Blaine graduated though? You gave him all the solos, what happened after he left?"
The three ex- Councilmen shrugged. "We graduated before him," Wes said.
"But didn't you two become the soloist?" David asked Nick and Jeff.
Nick nodded. "We floundered a bit once all four of you were gone, but we got back on our feet."
"I finally got a competition solo," Jeff announced, looking proud.
"But I was the one who actually got the first solo after Blaine left," Nick interjected. Jeff pushed his friend, nearly sending him flying off his seat as the group snickered.
"Nah," Jeff continued, ignoring the glare Nick sent him as he regained his balance, "it was Sebastian who got most of the solos once Blaine left. He charmed the pants off of the council, usually."
"And we mean that figuratively and literally," Nick tacked on darkly.
"Sebastian?" Blaine asked, sounding surprised as his voice escalated an octave.
Santana leaned forward on her hands, raising an eyebrow in a suggestive manner. "Do I detect a juicy backstory? Auntie 'Tanny wants to know. Spill it, hobbit."
Blaine ducked his head, blushing. By now, everyone at the table stared inquisitively at him, even Kurt, although he was trying to hide it. Nick and Jeff only looked slightly amused, obviously knowing the full contents of that year.
"There isn't that much to tell," Blaine mumbled. "He transferred to Dalton during my senior year, he- "he hesitates, trying to find a proper way to word it without making it sound too lewd, "he hit on me a lot. We went out a few dates, but it didn't really go anywhere." (*)
"That's putting it lightly," remarks Nick. Heads swivel to look at him. "Oh, the hitting on part. Blaine's telling the truth- that relationship didn't really go anywhere."
"Probably because he took you to a gay bar on the first date," says Jeff, munching on a few fries.
Blaine gives them all a look that Sebastian is not to be mentioned again, although Santana stares pointedly at Jeff in a way that demanding, suggestive, and a bit scary all at once. He visibly gulps, and Nick wisely maneuvers their hands –which were clasped under the table- on top of the table, raising an eyebrow at Santana. No one in the group comments on the quick exchange, but Kurt finally confirms his suspicions of the two. (**)
"God, Blaine," David says, nudging Blaine beside him. "What is with your taste in boys? Not including you, Kurt."
"That one wasn't actually my fault!"
"Jeremiah was."
Given Blaine's responding groan, the ex- New Direction members all cracked a grin.
"Do tell," Mercedes said.
"So right around Valentine's Day," Thad surprisingly starts, "Blaine had a semi- crush on this older dude-"
"Who worked in the local Gap, might I add."
"Thank you, Wes," Thad said, continuing, "And I say 'semi,' because this was still during the six-month Beatles phase and more on that later," he added, as Blaine groaned again and the McKinley group looked on amused. "Anyways, Blaine thought that it would be a really good idea to serenade this guy-"
"At the Gap."
"Thank you, Wes. So he got the Warblers to do a group performance for the guy, who later turned Blaine down."
"Oh well," Kurt says, rubbing a hand up and down Blaine's back, trying to comfort him, "that's not too bad. I mean, I'm sure I've done plenty of more embarrassing things in public. What song did you guys sing?"
"When I Get You Alone," Blaine moaned, muffled by his hand.
Everyone erupted into laughs, except Brittany, who only said, "I love that song," confusedly. Even Kurt struggled to keep a giggle in as he tried to comfort his boyfriend. "Ah- well- um- ah- yeah that's kinda really bad. Sorry honey," he snickered.
"You know, I think I saw a video of that online," Rachel said, calming down.
"It's on the internet? Why?" Blaine grumbled, still put out.
"Honey that's what question I've been asking since high school. Actually, most of us have," Kurt answered, gesturing to the McKinley group. "There's a lot of embarrassing footage of the New Directions online."
"Like what?" Thad asked curiously.
"Just- never mind," Puck said, shaking his head. "There's way too many."
"But what's this I hear about a 'Beatles phase'?" Rachel asked, using air quotes.
The Dalton boys bore identical wicked grins as they proceeded to tell the story of Blaine's story of being "lovestruck" from an "angel of the stage," and how "enchanted and hopelessly in love he was," complete with elaborate hand gestures, acting, and one instance of breaking out into song that left everyone at the table in breathless laughter, except Blaine, who only glared.
"Oh, honey," Kurt gasped out, leaning on Blaine for support.
Blaine crossed his arms like a petulant child, which caused the rest of the table to break out into a brand new round of laughter. Kurt leaned down a bit, kissing his pout away.
"So if we're all done laughing at my expense," Blaine drawled out once the table had calmed down again, "why don't we go and see what New York has to offer us today?" He started ushering Kurt out of the table, leaving everyone else to sort out the bills, which Blaine figured was a fair payback for their antics of earlier.
He and Kurt exited the restaurant, hands entwined. Kurt was still smiling from their conversation, letting out a small chuckle when Blaine turned to frown at him.
"Aw, c'mon Blaine," Kurt said, pulling the other man closer. "You have to admit it's pretty funny."
"I know that. It doesn't make it any less embarrassing."
"Well, I found it extremely flattering."
"You would."
Both of them smiled at each other, enjoying the small bubble of silence and peace they had before Santana stepped out of the restaurant, pulling Brittany with her, closely followed by the rest of the group, who had broken up into small, individual conversations.
"C'mon, Porcelain. I was promised enjoyments of New York."
Kurt raised an eyebrow. "I hope you know that it's a bit early for cocktails and whatever else you consider 'fun'."
"Believe me; I know. I'm bored enough to enjoy whatever your kind considers 'fun'," Santana said. She glanced over to Brittany, who was talking animatedly with Nick and Jeff, and smiled genuinely.
Kurt grinned, "I'm happy for you, Satan."
Santana only rolled her eyes, but a small blush filled her cheeks. "Whatever," she replied offhandedly.
Kurt was beckoned over by Rachel and Mercedes, leaving Blaine with Santana and eagerly joining an argument with Rachel why white tights were not to be worn by high school teens, let along by grown women.
As Rachel was making her countering statement, much to the annoyance of Kurt and Mercedes, Santana said casually, "You know if you hurt him, I'mma kick your ass, right?" She inspected her nails, continuing as if simply mentioning the weather. "I have razor blades in my hair," she gestured with her free hand, "just all up in there." She glanced up and smiled sweetly, but her eyes held a predatory look.
Blaine took her words to heart, but only shrugged nonchalantly in response. "I know," he said, smiling back at her, "Kurt told me that you're from Lima Heights Adjacent."
"And damn proud of it. Remember, Hobbit: I know people."
"Noted," he said, nodding and ignoring the nickname.
"So where are we headed?" Jeff called out to the group. Everyone turned to Kurt, making him the natural leader.
He shrugged his shoulders. "I was thinking we could just go to Central Park, unless anyone wanted to do anything in particular. It's a nice day today."
"Well, I wanted to see the-"
"I saw in this brochure that-"
Both Rachel and Wes glared over the hands that were slapped over their mouths. "The park sounds fine, Kurt," said David, yelping when Wes apparently licked his hand.
The group started to make their way in the direction of the park, and Kurt was still up at the front with Rachel and Mercedes. Blaine enjoyed surveying the entire group from the back, happy and content with how the two ex- show choir groups were mingling. His eyes lingered on how animatedly Kurt was talking to his friends, and a slow smile stretched its way across his face.
"You really like him, don't you?"
Blaine whirled to his right, where Puck had joined him. He was a little uneasy and unsure of how to act with the mohawked man, knowing that some of his past history with Kurt had been a bit rocky. He nodded though, murmuring a soft, "Of course I do."
"That's good," Puck replied, a little awkwardly. "Listen, I was gonna come over to threaten you, because Kurt's my boy and all, but I don't think I really need to. I've seen the way you two look at each other."
"What do you mean?" Blaine confusedly asked.
Puck shrugged, and the silence between them grew in awkwardness as he tried to find the proper words. "I don't really know, man. It just looks… real for you guys. And trust me; I've been in enough relationships to know when it isn't going to work out."
Blaine nodded thoughtfully. The two of them continued to walk along, the newly fallen autumn leaves crunching softly under their feet as those around them talked and laughed.
Eventually, Puck shook himself a little. "Ok, that was way too much emotional crap for one moment," he said, a slightly cocky edge in his voice again. "I also came over the offer you this." He held out a slip of paper, where a few Xbox live usernames were scrawled. "It's from Finn and the other guys. Not all of them can fly out here, so they're open to playing online with you."
"You guys still play video games now?"
Puck gave him a look. "Uh, duh? Don't you?"
Blaine shrugged. "Only because Wes and David are still addicted to Call of Duty, and demand that I play with them when they come over. I'll keep this in mind, though."
"You should," Puck answered. "I think the other guys were planning on delivering their threats to you when you did. Not that I think we really need to."
"Plus Santana kinda beat you guys to it."
"That too."
(*) I found a way to corporate Sebastian! *fist pump* You get a one sentence mention of Seblaine; take that where you will (I don't ship them AT ALL, so…)
(**) I caved. You get your Niff :D. I'm sorry if you don't ship them, but they could be so ADORABLE.
So I told myself I would get this chapter out if it killed me, and it honestly kind of did. I have some good ideas for Christmas/ New Years though!
Reviews are like pumpkin pie. :D Me gusta. Have a happy Thanksgiving guys (you know… if you celebrate it and all).
P.S. You can follow me on tumblr guys. My current URL is icyhands-starlighteyes. (But that's liable to change daily)